AI report: Nepal government should deliver justice for disappearances

[JURIST] Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] called on [AI report] Nepalese authorities to bring justice to the individuals responsible for the disappearance of the "Dhanusha Five" [OHCHR backgrounder, PDF] during the armed conflict in Nepal between 1996-2006. The report notes more than 1,300 people are believed to have disappeared during the conflict, and no suspects have been brought to justice in criminal court for violations of international law. The report comes on the eve of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances [UN report] on August 30, which prompts a number of family members of the disappeared to gather in Nepal to demand the government reveal the fate and whereabouts of the victims of forced disappearances.

The push towards some form of amnesty for Nepalese war crimes has been ongoing and perpetually controversial. In April, Nepalese lawmakers passed legislation [JURIST report] that could grant amnesty to former Maoist rebels and security forces accused of committing various war crimes, including torture and murder, during the nation's civil war. The bill established two bodies for addressing the alleged commission of war crimes: a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and a Commission on the Disappeared. Earlier that month, several human rights groups urged [JURIST report] the Nepalese government to reject the aforementioned amnesty legislation, stating that it would contravene international law based on its inclusion of certain amnesty provisions carried over from a former executive order granting blanket amnesty.

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